In 2001 I was informed by Ola Balogun that
a friend of his (Akintunde O John) had a very large studio space which he was
looking for other artists to share with, I felt it was a great idea because I
missed the atmosphere of my school studio since I had graduated three years
before, on my visit to the 'would be studio' I discovered that I was not the
only invited artist, Ola had invited a number of other artist, and the studio
itself' an abandoned factory site situated in the hearth of Ebutemeta in Lagos
Nigeria. I was excited. I said to myself
that it was an ideal environment for my growth... I did not need to be
persuaded, so I came on board.
Within the first few months a number of
the artists who joined the studio left and only nine members remained and the
nine formed a group and named it Defactori Studio. I was made the first
coordinator of the group. The group was made up of: Ola Balogun, Shino Adeladan, Akintunde.o.
John, Taiwo George Taylor, Awoyemi Jibade, Simian Akherebu, Ayahnu Anthony, Danmola
Adepoju and Chika Idu.
Since its inception the group has
organised workshops, seminars, exhibitions and we are the only art group or
society in Nigeria to have made and presented an award geared towards art development
in Nigeria.
All the members of the studio except Akintunde
have relocated their studio space from Defactori Studio to their private studios;
this is mainly due to residential distance. The group has evolved beyond
geographical definition, our connectivity is our ideology.
About
their upcoming show “UNBOUNDED SPIRIT”
This theme represents the studio’s
ideology, we believe that through these cooperation not competition, originality in expression, individualisation
in technique and style, experimentation, self discovery and awareness , points
our vision for the art society can be achieved.
The exhibition opens tomorrow, Saturday, July 18, at Terra
Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, from 4:00pm and runs until July 27.
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